KG Marg parking: NDMC unable to file heritage impact report

The fate of the KG Marg multi-level parking once again hangs in balance with the National Monuments Authority (NMA) asking the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) for a heritage impact assessment report. Hamari Jamatia reports.

The fate of the KG Marg multi-level parking once again hangs in balance with the National Monuments Authority (NMA) asking the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) for a heritage impact assessment report.

NDMC officials, however, are puzzled over the request as they do not know what such a report entails.

Nearly a month after the NMA made the request, the civic body has been unable to come up with the report.

"We were not sure what the report was for, so we asked the ASI for help. But even they seemed clueless. In any case, we haven't even received the letter from the NMA yet," said a senior official of NDMC.

The official, however, added that the NDMC may have to conduct some tests about how a parking complex on the proposed site will impact Agrasen Ki Baoli, an ancient monument intended for water harvesting.

Once the letter reaches NDMC, officials plan to reply that they do not have the expertise to compile such a report.

They say the issue is being dragged along needlessly and that there is nothing to be concerned about regarding Agrasen Ki Baoli.

"There are a dozen multi-storied buildings between Agrasen ki Baoli and the proposed site. If those buildings can come up there, why is NMA only bothered about the parking site?" said a senior official.

Earlier, the NMA had expressed concerns that the multi-level parking with a capacity of 1,500 cars will lower the water table at the Baoli and reduce its water harvesting capacity.

NDMC however claims to have sent teams to the spot to check the water table only to find that there was no water to begin with.

In 2010, the ASI had slapped a stop-work notice on the project after an amendment in the Act, which mandates permission from the NMA for any construction within 101 to 300 metre of a protected monument.